Posted: 5/12/2012 2:13:37 PM EDT
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So the Mrs and I have considered one,but sweet jeebus they drink fuel like a fat kid eats cake ! anybody have one and whats your experience with the fuel consumption?
I think at this point I am better off with investing the 2k towards Solar that can do more for me than just keep beer cold. |
| Never mentioned an RV sized fridge, I am speaking primarily about the Diamond, Servel/Dometic 18cf sized for daily application, we had one about 10cf when i was a kid it was spartan but worked at the family lake house, as stated before the fuel consumption is less than economical in a split box refrigerator according to manufacturers specs. |
| Instead of going with a fancy propane or DC super-insulated fridge I bought a run-of-the-mill energy star fridge from Lowes and invested the extra $2k in our solar set up. I saw things from your perspective too –– I would rather have the power on hand for other things then have the money sunk into a device that can only keep your food cold. Plus, when this fridge dies, I can get it repaired easily or go pick up a new one easily. I couldn't do that with a propane or SunDancer type fridge. |
 Maybe someone I know might have a Diamond DD-19SS 19 Cu Ft propane refrigerator hooked to a 500 gallon propane tank. It has used only 20% of the tank (we checked via the gas gauge on top of the tank) in about the last 12-14 months of use (it's used for 3-4 months at a time) at their (not me) northern snowbird retreat. As we figured, it uses about a gallon of propane a week, IIRC. I don't exactly remember the calculations but I remember that we were pretty impressed at it's efficiency. Freezer works great too. They make ice, keep ice cream, freeze vegetables from the garden, etc.
ETA: The Diamond Refrigerator website says it uses 1.7 Gal per 7 days. I think their's is using less. |
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Instead of going with a fancy propane or DC super-insulated fridge I bought a run-of-the-mill energy star fridge from Lowes and invested the extra $2k in our solar set up. I saw things from your perspective too –– I would rather have the power on hand for other things then have the money sunk into a device that can only keep your food cold. Plus, when this fridge dies, I can get it repaired easily or go pick up a new one easily. I couldn't do that with a propane or SunDancer type fridge. There is very little that breaks down on a propane fridge. I've been around a few that just my aesthetics look to be from the 50's and 60's and still run like clockwork. We had one in a hunting camp for an outfitter I worked for that didn't want to work. One of the hunters had once been an appliance repair man. Apparently the coils on the back of the fridge are full of mostly ammonia IIRC. If they sit for a long time the ammonia will crystallize. The fix was to take a rubber mallet, gently rap on the coils, rotate the fridge, and repeat until you heard it start to gurgle. When it gurgles that means that the blockage is broken up and the liquid can flow. A friend of mine had an ancient propane fridge when he lived in a remote cabin (no electricity, lit the thing with either propane light fixtures or just kerosene lamps, old propane range, etc.) He had a 30 gallon propane tank that he would haul to town when it got low, and claimed that between the fridge AND cooking it would last him 6-8 months. He said the only thing that he had to fix on it was to replace the rubber around the door. When he asked the company if there were any other parts he should keep on hand they told him there really wasn't much else that would break. Judging by the longevity that most propane fridges have, I would say that you're money ahead to get one and possibly never have to buy another fridge as long as you live. |
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Instead of going with a fancy propane or DC super-insulated fridge I bought a run-of-the-mill energy star fridge from Lowes and invested the extra $2k in our solar set up. I saw things from your perspective too –– I would rather have the power on hand for other things then have the money sunk into a device that can only keep your food cold. Plus, when this fridge dies, I can get it repaired easily or go pick up a new one easily. I couldn't do that with a propane or SunDancer type fridge. Could you details materials you used to get a solar setup for a 'regular' fridge? This is a situation I am looking to duplicate. Thanks! |
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Could you details materials you used to get a solar setup for a 'regular' fridge? This is a situation I am looking to duplicate. Thanks! Sorry for the delay. We are powering our whole off-grid house with this setup (~1300 sqft, 4 bedrooms, LED lights everywhere, washing machine, shallow well jet pump, ceiling fans, fridge) with this so keep that in mind. 6x 240watt solar panels, Outback VFX-3658 3600 watt 48V inverter, Outback MX60 MPPT charge controller, and 8 golf cart batteries at 6V 225 amp hours each. You could get by with less for just the fridge. Feel free to PM me with questions. Edit: Our tankless external water heater and stove/oven run on propane. I just have 2 100# tanks tied into a regulator. We use very little. |
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Could you details materials you used to get a solar setup for a 'regular' fridge? This is a situation I am looking to duplicate. Thanks! Is your thread about your setup still around? Sorry for the delay. We are powering our whole off-grid house with this setup (~1300 sqft, 4 bedrooms, LED lights everywhere, washing machine, shallow well jet pump, ceiling fans, fridge) with this so keep that in mind. 6x 240watt solar panels, Outback VFX-3658 3600 watt 48V inverter, Outback MX60 MPPT charge controller, and 8 golf cart batteries at 6V 225 amp hours each. You could get by with less for just the fridge. Feel free to PM me with questions. Edit: Our tankless external water heater and stove/oven run on propane. I just have 2 100# tanks tied into a regulator. We use very little. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Could you details materials you used to get a solar setup for a 'regular' fridge? This is a situation I am looking to duplicate. Thanks! Sorry for the delay. We are powering our whole off-grid house with this setup (~1300 sqft, 4 bedrooms, LED lights everywhere, washing machine, shallow well jet pump, ceiling fans, fridge) with this so keep that in mind. 6x 240watt solar panels, Outback VFX-3658 3600 watt 48V inverter, Outback MX60 MPPT charge controller, and 8 golf cart batteries at 6V 225 amp hours each. You could get by with less for just the fridge. Feel free to PM me with questions. Edit: Our tankless external water heater and stove/oven run on propane. I just have 2 100# tanks tied into a regulator. We use very little. I would love to see some details about your house....if you're willing to post them. Complete with pics of course! 
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You could go solar much cheaper. If your home is insulated decently they can be quite affordable.
There's a thread somewhere on here about a guy who built his own solar refrigerator cheaply. http://www.dailypundit.com/2009/09/27/chest-freezer-to-refrigerator-conversion/ Craigslist freezer $75-$100 100w solar cell $250-$300 1500w inverter $100 Golf cart battery $100 Other misc stuff (temp controller , wiring ,ect) $75 So for $650 on the high side you can build a solar one and have plenty of extra capacity for other things. Well under 'solar fridges' that run $1200-$1400 or so. You *might* be able to build a cheaper system by cutting it closer. It seems some of the newer $200 ultra-efficient freezers can operate on well under 100w a day, requiring you to use maybe a 35w solar system. If you did that with the above configuration, you should have a extra 300wh of power per day to spare for other things. |
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We have a servel where we keep our meds. It's hooked up to the house propane tank (500 gal), along w/ the stove, tankless water heater, and the furnace. We only use the furnace occasionally as primary heat is wood. Last tank fill (to 80%) was last June, and it's on 45% last weekend. I would assume most of that went to the water heater. I love the thing. No moving parts. It'll probably outlast me... |
| Just to note: The absorbtion chiller type refrigerators run on a heat source - any heat source - so if you do a little modifying to add a heat exchanger you can feed the chiller heat from sources like solar, wood boilers, etc. somewhat directly and potentially without even any pumps if you get the convection right. |
| I recommend a camper fridge. Our camper has a full size refrigerator/freezer that runs off of propane, 12 volt DC or 120 volt AC. It can be set to automatically switch between them. Hook it up to a propane tank and a deep cycle battery hooked to a solar cell, and Bob’s your uncle. I expect propane to be in good supply after TSHTF. I just keep a 3’ master key in my truck. Almost every convenience store and gas station has a rack full of tanks sitting out front. I also keep 4-5 at my house. They never go bad and I never run out while BBQing. |
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I had one on my houseboat and never had any problems with it. We rarely used the water heater so the stove/oven and fridge were the only things on the propane tanks (2 20lb tanks) and they would last us more than an entire summer of weekend use. The fridge was powered by shore power when we were at the dock.
Grove |